Supporting-bracket for electrical instruments.



0. H. A. T. FIEPER.

SUPPORTING BRACKET FOR ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.21.19r5. RENEWED MAY 247.19m.

1,278,997. Pandsept. 17,1918.

Il JI IIE-mgm.

g UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

OSCAR H. PIEPER AND ALPHONSE F. PIEPER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

SUPPORTING-BRACKET FOR ELECTRICALINSTRUMENTS.

Original application filed October 15, 1915, Serial No. 56,122. (Patent No.f1,211',752.)

Specification of Letters Patent.

Divided and this application filed December 27, 1915, Serial No.` 68,896. Renewed May, 27, 1918. Serial No. 236,924.

To all 'whom t may Concern Be it known that we, Osoan H. PTEPER and ALPHONSE F. PIEPER, both ot Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in Supporting-.Brackets for Electrical Instruments; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ot' this specification, and to the reference-immersils marked thereon.

This application is a. division of our'application for electric controlling mechanism, Serial No. 56,122, tiled October 15, 1915, and issued as Patent No.1,Q-11,752, dated January 9, 1917.

The present invention has tor its purpose to aiiord a novel form of bracket or support for electrically controlled instruments, such for instance as cauteries, hot air syringes, and the like, whereby the supply of electric current to the instrument is automatically cut ott when the instrument is supported on the bracket and not in use. A further purpose ot' the structure resides in the provision of a simple arrangement which can be manufactured at a reasonable cost and assembled readily, while at the same time making it possible to easily position an instrument within the bracket or remove it therefrom. To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter' more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the speciiication.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation showing the application of the invention to an electric controlling mechanism with an instrument supported in its bracket;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a detail View in rear elevation of the support on which the bracket is mounted g Fig. 4L is a plan view of the support;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken centrally ot' one of the brackets, and

Fig. G is a sectional view on line tia-6 of Fig. 5.

Similar reference numerals in the several figures indicate the same parts;

The invention may be carried out or applied in a number of different ways, and in the present embodiment we have shown a type offelectric controlling mechanism, such as is employed in dental surgical work for governing the operation of different tools and instruments, comprising a casing or housing 1 and a movable door 2, which is provided with a lconduit or hollow supporting arm or carrier 3 having laterally extending branches upon which are mounted the various instrument brackets, and which is also provided with electrical conductors that furnish a supply of current to the various instruments. The arm or Icarrier is capable of being bodily removed from the housing 1 and to this end plug terminals e are provided for the circuit wires inclosed in the arm, which project from the insulating plate and are received in corresponding acks or sockets a in the housing. This means of mounting the arm enables it and the instruments supported by the several brackets thereon with their circuit cords to be haudled as a unit.

Each bracket comprises a pair of relatively movable arms, preferably spring arms, which are designated 4f, and include flanges 5 at their inner extremities, the flanges on the opposing arms extend laterally toward each other and are attached to the supporting arm 3 in the manner shown in Fig. 5 by means of screws 5a and plates 6, which overlie the abutting ends of the ianges. The latter are seated in depressions in the side face of the arm, the edges ot the recesses embracing the bentcorners of the spring arms, thus preventing them from working laterally or twisting from beneath the plates 6. Each of the arms i is provided with a contact 6 supported by insulating washer 7 and connected by suitable conductors with conducting sleeves 8, arranged on the rear face of the supporting arm 3, and in turn connected to conductors 9 which lead to an instrument, one of which is illustrated at 10. The arms l1 are each provided with y outwardly curved portions 11 which embrace the instrument for supporting it, and curved outer ends 12 which permit the instrument to be readily positioned by pushing it between the arms, so as to spread them apart. The spring tendency of the arms causes them to approach each other, to bring the contacts 6 into engagement under normal conditions, and to close the circuit which controls or heats the instrument. When the latter is inserted in the bracket, the arms are spread Patented sept. 1v, 1918. r

apart sufficiently to separate said contacts,

instrument sutticiently so that it is ready for use. The arms l are also provided with guard portions or plates 13 which extend in opposite directions from the bracket so as to orerlie and underlie the space between the arms that is occupied by the contacts 6, thus aii'ordiug effective protection for the lat-ter, and preventing an instrument from being moved tar enough inwardly between the arms of the bracket to engage the contacts referred to.

lt is to be understood that the instrument bracket is not limited in its application to any particular type of instrument but is intended to be adopted in conjunction with any electrical instrument or tool where it is desirable to arrange tor opening the electriv cal controlling circuit during the time that the device arranged in the bracket 4and to autoinaticallyY close the circuit again upon removing the instrument for further operation.

it, will be noted that. our support is mounted on the door ot' the mechanism so that the instruments and their connecting wires are moved out ot the way when the door is opened; also thatl the support itself is hollow, atl'ording a means lier concealing the wires and is easily kept clean and in a' sanitary condition and may be removed when occasion requires.

ille claim as our invention:

l. The combination with anv electrically controlled instrumentand a circuit for governing the. same, of a supporting bracket including a pair ot' spring arms having contacts normally in engagement and forming a part ot said circ-uit, the arms being movable apart to separate said contacts and support the instrument, and guard portions carried by the arms.

2. An instrument support for an electric controlling apparatus comprising a casing, a supporting arm depending therefrom, a bracket on the support comprising opposed spring arms,y contacts carried by the arms, and conductors leading from thc contacts to Y the casing.

3. An instrument support for an electric controlling apparatus comprising a casing and a movable door therefor, a hollow arm depending from the door, conductors leading from the casing through said hollow arm to ali-instrument, and a bracket on the arm for supporting said instrument comprising a pair ot contacts adapted to close the electric circuit automatically when the ii'istrument is removed.

i. An instrument support comprising two opposed sin-ing arms, cooperating contacts on the arms, one supported on each ot said arms andI insulated therefrom, and separate conductors extending :trom the contacts rearwardly between the arms. f

An instrument holder comprising a hollow support. spring arms secured to the support having tree outer extremities, cooperating contacts on said arms, and conductors extending rearwardly from said contacts and through the support.

6. The combination with an electrically controlled ii'istrui'nent and a circuit therefor, otl a bracket for supporting the instrument and haring contacts forming a part ot said circuit, and 1n xans in the path ot' the instrument tor preventing `the instrument from forming a short circuit by engagement with `said contacts when it is inserted in the bracket` y 7. An instrument support for an electric mntrolling apparatus comprising a casing, a hollow arm depending therefrom having a horizont-al portion, a plurality of instrument supporting brackets comprising spring arms mounted on the support and carrying contacts, conductors leading from the contacts through the arm and cooperating plug or jack terminals for said conductors arranged on the arm and casing.

OSCAR H. PIEPER. yALPHONSE F. PIEPER.

Witnesses R. V. STEWART,1

J. l-iKLINE.

Copies of this patent. may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I); C. 

